The figure of the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) is alarming, even if the country is far from the 2004 record with its 218,637 households. The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 30% in 2019 compared to the previous year.
Nearly 90,000 households
Above all, it was in the Pantanal, the largest wetland on the planet and sanctuary of biodiversity, that the increase was greatest, with six times more fires in one year. A total of 89,178 fire sources were detected in the Brazilian Amazon in 2019, compared to 68,345 in 2018, according to INPE data released on Wednesday. In August alone, 30,901 fires were recorded.
This resurgence of forest fires in the Amazon, mainly due to deforestation, had raised strong criticism in the international community, especially in France, against the administration of far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, favorable in the forest for economic development projects, particularly mining. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon reached record levels last year, exceeding 10,000 km2 between August 2018 and July 2019, for the first time since 2008.
Planet
Leonardo DiCaprio Refutes Jair Bolsonaro's Charges on Amazon Fires
Planet
More than 6 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted by forest fires in 2019
- Amazon
- Fire
- Planet
- Fire
- Brazil